NCAA schedules Alabama infractions announcement
1 hour, 9 minutes ago
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—The NCAA has scheduled a teleconference to announce a decision on Alabama amid reports that the football program will forfeit at least 10 wins and the university placed on probation.
The teleconference to discuss the decision by the Committee on Infractions will be at 3 p.m. ET Thursday. No details were disclosed in the announcement, but several media outlets reported that the university will have to forfeit wins from the 2006 and 2007 football seasons that included players who obtained free textbooks for other students.
Alabama will also be placed on probation for the second time in the past eight years, according to the reports, which cited unnamed sources.
University officials aren’t permitted to comment until the NCAA releases its findings. The investigation also included athletes in other sports that the university has not disclosed.
Alabama appeared before the Committee on Infractions on Feb. 20 to answer allegations of potentially major violations involving the improper disbursement of textbooks and “failure to adequately monitor” the textbook distribution process for student-athletes.
The violations occurred during the 2005-06 school year and into the fall of 2007. That left the university subject to potentially stiffer penalties as a repeat violator because the football program was placed on probation on Feb. 1, 2002.
The new case also reopens the five-year repeat violator window.
Nick Saban replaced Mike Shula as coach after the 2006 football season and suspended five players—Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, Marquis Johnson, Chris Rogers and Marlon Davis—for four games when the university uncovered the violations in 2007. The Tide was 5-2 at that point and its only wins in the next six games came against Tennessee and Colorado in the Independence Bowl.
The sanctions come at a time when Alabama fans were celebrating the program’s return to national prominence. Saban led the Tide to a 12-0 regular-season record and a No. 1 ranking last season, before the team lost to Florida in the Southeastern Conference championship game and to Utah in the Sugar Bowl.
The university uncovered the violations after an Alabama Supply Store employee realized that an athlete had more than $1,600 in charges for the fall semester of 2007 and alerted university officials. Athletes get free textbooks with their scholarship, but some were accused of getting additional textbooks for other students.
Alabama has changed some of its procedures, including requiring compliance officials to be present when student-athletes pick up their books.
The university has said none of the textbooks or materials were used for profit or to get items not related to academics, and that the athletes involved who still have eligibility remaining have had to pay restitution.
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1 hour, 9 minutes ago
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—The NCAA has scheduled a teleconference to announce a decision on Alabama amid reports that the football program will forfeit at least 10 wins and the university placed on probation.
The teleconference to discuss the decision by the Committee on Infractions will be at 3 p.m. ET Thursday. No details were disclosed in the announcement, but several media outlets reported that the university will have to forfeit wins from the 2006 and 2007 football seasons that included players who obtained free textbooks for other students.
Alabama will also be placed on probation for the second time in the past eight years, according to the reports, which cited unnamed sources.
University officials aren’t permitted to comment until the NCAA releases its findings. The investigation also included athletes in other sports that the university has not disclosed.
Alabama appeared before the Committee on Infractions on Feb. 20 to answer allegations of potentially major violations involving the improper disbursement of textbooks and “failure to adequately monitor” the textbook distribution process for student-athletes.
The violations occurred during the 2005-06 school year and into the fall of 2007. That left the university subject to potentially stiffer penalties as a repeat violator because the football program was placed on probation on Feb. 1, 2002.
The new case also reopens the five-year repeat violator window.
Nick Saban replaced Mike Shula as coach after the 2006 football season and suspended five players—Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, Marquis Johnson, Chris Rogers and Marlon Davis—for four games when the university uncovered the violations in 2007. The Tide was 5-2 at that point and its only wins in the next six games came against Tennessee and Colorado in the Independence Bowl.
The sanctions come at a time when Alabama fans were celebrating the program’s return to national prominence. Saban led the Tide to a 12-0 regular-season record and a No. 1 ranking last season, before the team lost to Florida in the Southeastern Conference championship game and to Utah in the Sugar Bowl.
The university uncovered the violations after an Alabama Supply Store employee realized that an athlete had more than $1,600 in charges for the fall semester of 2007 and alerted university officials. Athletes get free textbooks with their scholarship, but some were accused of getting additional textbooks for other students.
Alabama has changed some of its procedures, including requiring compliance officials to be present when student-athletes pick up their books.
The university has said none of the textbooks or materials were used for profit or to get items not related to academics, and that the athletes involved who still have eligibility remaining have had to pay restitution.
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